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Joe Gibbs Racing's driver developement program is most well known for it's introduction of Joey Logano, who is sure to become one of Nascar's future stars.

However, the other developement driver, Marc Davis, is doing more for the sport than just racing on Sunday.

For most of Nascar's 60 year history, it has lacked an African American racer in it's field of drivers. And when it has, those drivers have often found little success, with only Wendell Scott, the first African American to start in a Nascar race, earning a victory in Nascar's top series. Most recently Bill Lester raced in the Cup series in 2006, with at 32nd and a 38th in two races run.

However, Davis could open the door for more African Americans to enter Nascar.

Davis, who is currently 17 and turns 18 on June 23rd, has enjoyed lots of success in other forms of racing. At age 13, he became the first driver to win two national legends championships in the Dirt and Road Course Young Lion divisions, and went on to win six of twelve limited late model races for Joe Gibbs Racing at the Hickory Motor Speedway in 2006.

This success has gotten the graduate of Nascar's Drive for Diversity program compared to Jeff Gordon and called the "real deal" by Nascar veteran Mark Martin.

For Nascar, Davis means the possible addition of more African American fans, but Davis wants to be judged by his ability to compete, not by his ability to bring new faces into the grandstands.

"I'm grateful for the opportunity, but it does get to a point where I just want to be known as the development driver for Joe Gibbs, and if I can open the door for more minorities to race then great, but I have to make it first," Davis said.

Last year Davis raced in the Camping World East, along with teammate Logano, with a best finish of 2nd to Logano and seven top-10's in 13 races, while also making his first ARCA-Remax Series, finishing 4th. Davis is racing in the East series again this year, and is scheduled to race in four more ARCA races.

“I learned a lot running Late Models at Hickory, but it was still a big transition going to the bigger and faster cars of Camping World East,” said Davis. “I’m looking forward to another year in this division, because I feel like I know so much more than I did last year. Everything I’ve done in life has been about racing, and to have an opportunity like this means everything. No one has higher expectations than me."

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Kyle Busch is known for an aggressive style and racing hard every lap. They say at Darlington all that will get you is a wrecked race car and some hurt feelings. For Busch, it means a dominating win and a champagne-soaked fire suit.

"This is pretty awesome. Darlington showed again tonight it's one of the hardest places. Always has been, always will be," Busch said in Victory Lane. "We're going to go through a lot of Mac tools trying to fix this thing, but that's ok. They gave me such a race car."

Behind Busch was Carl Edwards, who came back from being last on the practice chart on Thursday to be runner-up on Saturday night. Jeff Gordon finished 3rd at a track he's won at seven times, vaulting him to 10th in points, followed by Dale Earnhardt Jr. and David Ragan rounding out the top-5, his second this season.

The only thing that stood in Busch's way was Greg Biffle, who won the pole with a record time and had led 95 laps, who was leading when he felt a vibration. That vibration turned into something much bigger, a mechanical failure that left Biffle with a 43rd place finish.

"I give 110 percent as a driver all the time and you just want your equipment to last and be able to win these races," said Biffle. "You can deal with a flat tire or something like that, but when it's self-induced, it makes it even harder. It makes it so hard to BLEEP."

However, Busch's win didn't come easy. After the controversy of the past week after a late race incident with Earnhardt Jr. at Richmond, he spent the whole night struggling with brake issues, then recovered from a penalty that sent him to the rear of the field when his pit crew didn't tighten all the lug nuts on his car. He then pounded the wall with the right side of his car, making his right-rear tire protrude beyond the damaged sheet metal.

"I can't tell you how many times he tried to give the race away by slamming into the wall, his right side was destroyed," said third place finisher Jeff Gordon.

Despite the damage and faulty brakes, Busch still had the fastest car in the closing laps, as he won by over three seconds in a car that he claimed early in the race to be the "most pathetic" he'd ever driven.

Matt Kenseth earned a much needed 6th place finish after three consecutive finishes of 38th or worse, fighting through vibration issues similar to those that his teammate Biffle felt, a sensation that all five Roush drivers were reported to have felt, before getting just his 4th top-10 of the season.

After an exciting and controversial finish at Richmond, the Sprint Cup Series heads to a track that has deep roots in it's history, Darlington Raceway, dubbed "Too Tough To Tame." Here patience and racing the track, not your competitors, is what pays off, and rubbing against the wall is as expected as the big one at Talladega. The Lady in Black has a freshly paved surface, and higher speeds will present another challenge for the drivers. Without further ado, here are this week's power rankings.

1. Kyle Busch

While racing for the lead with just a few laps to go, he got into Dale Earnhardt Jr, sending him into the wall. However, Busch's 2nd place finish was his 7th this year, and put him back on top of the Sprint Cup Series point standings. In his three starts at Darlington, he has two finishes of 23rd or worse, but has a 7th place finish here back in 2006.

2. Jeff Burton

Burton recovered from being involved in Richmond's version of the big one to finish 11th, but Burton seems to have fallen off a little bit from the competition as far as running up front is concerned. However this consistency will certainly earn him a spot in the chase, and you can expect more of it at Darlington, where he has an average finish of 11.5.

3. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Over two years have passed now since Earnhardt won a points paying race, with heartbreak coming in the closing laps at Richmond. However, Jr. has run well at Darlington in years past. In 2006, he finished 5th despite suffering from the flu, and has finished 11th or better in 7 of the last 9 races there.

4. Carl Edwards

Edwards finished a solid 7th at Richmond, and should expect more success at Darlington, where he has three top-10's in four starts. The only other finish is a DNF due to an early engine failure.

5. Clint Bowyer

Bowyer's streak of consistency continued when he ran in the top-5 all night at Richmond, and was able to steal the victory when Busch and Earnhardt tangled. Now Bowyer returns to the site of his first career pole, which came at Darlington last year before going on to finish 9th. Over the past year Bowyer's performance has improved greatly, so it wouldn't be a surprise if he was up front in the final laps.

6. Denny Hamlin

This guy has lost so many races in his young career, and Saturday night may have been the most heartbreaking for the Virginia native. However, Hamlin will have to put that behind him as he goes to the egg-shaped oval that is Darlington, where he finished 2nd last year.

7. Tony Stewart

Where Stewart will drive next year is still uncertain, but he's continued to run up front, finishing 4th at Richmond. Darlington is one of the few tracks that Stewart hasn't won at yet, but he's been consistent, with an average finish of 11.9.

8. Greg Biffle

Biffle has been on a slump as of late, and it continued at Richmond where he only finished 14th. In the past five races, he's only had one top-10 finish, including a 39th at Texas. However he's had a lot of success at Darlington, including back-to-back wins in 2005 and 2006.

9. Kevin Harvick

Harvick fought an ill-handling car all night and managed to earn his first top-10 since Bristol, finishing 8th. Harvick has been hit or miss, however, at Darlington, where he only has 4 top-10's in 11 starts.

10. Jimmie Johnson

Johnson was never a contender at Richmond, and was involved in the big crash midway through the race. However, Darlington is one of Johnson's best tracks, where he's only failed to finish in the top-10 once in nine starts, and swept the races here in 2004.



Other Notables:

11. Jeff Gordon- Recovered from being a lap down to finish 9th at Richmond, and is the defending winner of the upcoming race, and looking for his 8th career victory at Darlington.

12. Kasey Kahne- Finished 10th at Richmond after running in the top-15 for most of the night, for his fifth top-10 of the season. He has three poles in five starts at Darlington, and an average finish of 12.4.

13. Mark Martin- Will again race at Darlington this weekend. His experience makes him a favorite to run up front.

14. Martin Truex Jr.- He earned his first top-5 of the season at Richmond, just his 3rd top-10 this season. He's never finished in the top-10 at Darlington, but has an average finish of 12.5.

15. Kurt Busch- This is a driver who needs to turn things around. He hasn't finished better than 23rd in the past five races, and has only one top-5, which came in the Daytona 500 when he pushed teammate Ryan Newman to the win.

---

As of right now, 21 drivers are eligible to race in the Sprint All-Star Race on May 17th, with one race left for a driver to win and become eligible for the star-studded field. Three drivers will transfer from the Sprint Showdown, consisting of two 20 lap segments for a total of 40 laps or 60 miles, into the big show, the top two finishers and then a driver selected by fan vote.

At least 24 cars will be in the All-Star race itself, and they will race for 20 more laps than they did in 2007, totaling 100 for 150 miles, consisting of four 25 lap segments. Yellow flag laps will be counted in each of the first three sessions, but the final session will only count green flag laps. Restarts will again be double file with the free-pass available throughout the event. A record purse of $3,308,251, with the winner guaranteed at least $1,012,975 for winning the Saturday night showdown.

Rumors are spreading that Martin Truex Jr. may be departing Dale Earnhardt Inc. to join Penske racing in a fourth car, with a possible sponsor being UPS, according to Jayski.com.

There are also rumors spreading about where Tony Stewart will be driving next year, with the increasing implication that he will be departing Joe Gibbs Racing. There has been no official word from either side, but rumor says that Stewart will indeed start his own racing team, under the Hendrick umbrella, similar to what Ginn Racing did using Hendrick supplied chassis and engines. A possible sponsor for Stewart: Bass Pro Shops, the current sponsor of Truex Jr. Should Stewart depart JGR, it will leave Gibbs looking for a replacement, which could be the highly talented Joey Logano, who dominated Sunday's ARCA race from the pole in his first start.

Finally, the last thing Nascar needs is another name change. In the course of five years, the Cup series has changed from the Winston, Nextel, and this year Sprint Cup Series, with The Grand National Series also changing from Busch Beer to Nationwide Insurance.

However, the Cup series may have another name change in it's future, as Deutsche Telekom, one of the nation's largest banking firms and owner of T-Mobile, may consider acquiring Overland Park-based Sprint to avoid a price war in the mobile phone industry. As Sprint continues to struggle in the US, the likelihood of Sprint lowering prices even further to attract customers is increasing. T-Mobile makes it's business as being the cheaper alternative to the top-5 cellular companies, and if Sprint lowers it's prices it could take sales away from T-Mobile, according to analysts for Merrill BLEEP. And recent media reports indicate that a bid for Sprint will be coming, but it could be several weeks or months away.

However, the reality is that Nascar's top series will likely face another name change, the T-Mobile Cup Series. And I was just getting used to calling it the Sprint Cup Series....

---

Over four years have passed since the final Nascar sanctioned race was run at Rockingham, NC. However, Sunday the ARCA Re/Max Series visited the Rock, with a first time entry by Joey Logano, a driver being developed by Joe Gibbs Racing.

Logano earned the pole at a track considered by many to be one of the most difficult ones for a stock car driver to conquer on Saturday. This didn't phase the young Logano, however, as he went on to dominate the Carolina 500 on Sunday, leading 257 of 312 laps en-route to his first Arca series victory in his first start. The key to Logano's win may have been the patience that he knew is required when racing at the tricky Rockingham Speedway.

"I have to thank the Joe Gibbs crew for pitting me," said Logano. "They kept me out front. We're going to get a shot at Dover coming up, and hopefully we'll see victory lane there too. I wasn't running flat out the whole race. You've got to pace yourself. That's a really big deal here at The Rock."

Logano had few to challenge him in his dominating victory, aside from hard racing with Ken Schrader and a challenge for the lead mid-race from Michael Annett. With ten laps to go, however, Logano came into the pits for fresh tires. He came out in the fourth position, as there were only five cars that he hadn't lapped already. At one point in the race, he had all but the second place driver lapped out of the 50 car field.

When the race restarted and the cars barrelled down into turn 1, Logano was in the fourth position. When they came out of turn 4 just seconds later, he was again leading the pack. From there the 17 year old from Conneticutt would pull away by over four seconds from Ken Schrader, who finished 2nd after starting the race in the 31st position.

"I would have loved to have won but it's neat to see the fastest car win a race and that's what happened today," said Schrader. "I have to thank Johnny Benson who came out here and practiced the car for us on Friday. It was good. We just didn't have anything for [Joey] Logano. We didn't pit for tires at the very end there because we didn't have any tires, but even if we did, we probably wouldn't have pitted. We're low budget so if there is an opportunity to cut costs anywhere, we do it."

Logano will turn 18 on May 24, and will attempt to make his first Nationwide Series start at Dover on May 31 in the Helluva Good 200.

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Denny Hamlin had the race won. He had led 381 of 382 laps and was pulling away from a battle for second between Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kyle Busch. He found himself just 17 laps from a victory at his hometown track, but the next lap he found himself in third and at the mercy of his right front tire which had gone soft and was likely to blow. It finally did on lap 391 as Hamlin settled for, to understate it, disappointing finish to a race that was his to lose.

However, that second place battle between Earnhardt Jr. and Busch now became a battle for the win with six laps to go. Just a few laps after the restart, Busch got loose while trying to pass Earnhardt and the duo made contact in turn 3, sending Earnhardt, who hasn't won a points paying Cup race since this race in 2006, into the wall. Emerging from the smoke was Clint Bowyer, who was running third and was able to steer under Busch and the wrecking Earnhardt. After the race Busch would be confronted by members of Earnhardt Jr.'s crew before addressing the media.

"Just a bummer deal," Busch shrugged after climbing from his car. "We were both racing hard there. That was just a product of good hard racing. I apologize that it happened. I hate that it did. We just didn’t give each other enough room in turn 3."

""I wouldn't say that was intentional. I ran hard and got wrecked. Whether it was fair or not, he's going to need security," a disgruntled Earnhardt lamented after settling for a 15th place finish. "I thought I was going to end the winless streak tonight and celebrate and be happy. We'll have to keep running good like we are and try somewhere else."

Bowyer held off Busch on the final restart, as Busch was battling with Mark Martin for second, to earn his second career victory in Cup series competition. After crossing the line Bowyer sarcastically asked his crew chief Gil Martin, "We knew we had that all day, didn't we?''

"It's awesome. I love this place,'' he said in Victory Lane. "I messed things up in qualifying for the guys, we just dug deep and worked hard and things worked out... took advantage of a misfortune right there up front. This is awesome. It's what it's all about.''

The race changed quickly on lap 229 when J.J Yeley got into the outside wall, sparking a Talladega-esque incident that involved at least nine cars, taking Jimmie Johnson, Kurt Busch and Matt Kenseth all out of contention. The wreck stopped the race over 20 minutes, giving a preview to the eventual chaos that would unfold.

"Things happen so fast, you don't know where to go," said Busch, who finished 42nd in the 43-car field after the incident. "I had my front brakes all locked up."

Another odd incident that occurred was with 45 laps to go when Casey Mears and Michael Walrtip made contact coming off turn 4, sending Mears into the wall. As Mears' heavily damaged car slowly made it's way to turn 1, Walrtip got back on the gas and got into the rear end of Mears' car, pushing him all the way to the end of the straightaway. Waltrip was parked for the remainder of the race, while he and Mears finished 37th and 36th, respectively.

Hamlin had been the fastest car all weekend long, with the top lap in the only practice session of the impound weekend, winning the pole for the Cup race later that night, and then going on to win the Nationwide Series race for his first Nascar win at Richmond. However, Hamlin will leave Richmond bitterly disappointed, as will the still winless Earnhardt, after coming so close to finding victory lane.

After the chaos at Talladega the Sprint Cup Series heads to Richmond, Virginia, where 400 laps and 300 miles of bumping and BLEEPing are sure to please in primetime.

1. Jeff Burton

Burton didn't perform particularly well at Talladega, finishing 12th after starting in the back of the pack. Burton has the potential to perform at Richmond, where he won in 1998. However, in this race last year, he left the race early with engine troubles and finished 43rd.


2. Kyle Busch

Is there any doubt that he will be one of the guys to beat in the Chase? Just when you thought you found a track that Busch couldn't compete at, the guy goes out and wins there. Talk about silencing critics... As far as Richmond goes, he has never failed to complete a lap and has 5 top-5's in 6 starts.


3. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

He led 46 laps before getting caught up in a large wreck and falling back. However, Jr. recovered to finish 10th, keeping him 3rd in points. However, this weekend is a dreaded anniversary for Jr; 2 whole years since he won a points paying race. He would like nothing more than to end that slump this weekend at Richmond, where he's claimed 3 victories.


4. Carl Edwards

It seems the only way that Carl will ever be doing back flips at Talladega is if he gets turned around and takes a Sadler-esque ride. Otherwise, Carl will dread going to the 2.66 miler. Unfortunately, things don't fare much better for Cousin Carl at Richmond either, where he has an average finish outside the top-20.


5. Denny Hamlin

Hamlin was a show all in himself at Talladega, pushing cars to the lead every other lap, finishing the day finishing 3rd for his 5th consecutive finish of 6th or better. Now Hamlin seeks his first victory at Richmond, another home track for the Virginia native. Hamlin would like nothing better than to give the fans the same show he did back at Martinsville earlier this year.


6. Greg Biffle

Biffle has never performed well at 'Dega, and was probably just relieved to have earned a sub-par 18th place finish, avoiding too much damage in the points race. Biffle has 5 consecutive top-10's until the COT was introduced, when he finished 19th and 39th. However Roush racing has upped it's COT program, and with that Biffle should return to being at contender at RIR.


7. Jimmie Johnson

If you had to decide between putting Jimmie Johnson or Morgan Shepherd for a fantasy roster for Richmond at this point last year, you may have actually picked the latter. Before his sweep of the races last year, Johnson only had one top-10 in 10 starts. However Johnson was able to claim victory in both races at the Virginia track last year with the COT, which implies he will also contend for the win again this weekend.


8. Kevin Harvick

Harvick suffered from a last lap crash that relegated him to a 24th place finish. Richmond is the place for Happy Harvick to turn it around, however, as he has 8 top-10's in 12 starts, including a win here in 2006.


9. Tony Stewart

Stewart has enjoyed so much success at Talladega, leading several laps and coming oh so close to victory. Victory eluded him again, however, when he was caught up in the big one with 15 laps to go. Stewart has three victories at Richmond, however, and has an average finish of 11.3, including a runner-up finish here last fall.


10. Clint Bowyer

Six consecutive top-10's have allowed Bowyer to climb to 7th in points, and proved that he can perform at any track you throw at the 29 year old Bowyer, with those top-10's coming at the short tracks of Bristol and Martinsville, the intermediate track in Texas, the one-miler Phoenix, and finally the unpredictable Talladega Superspeedway. At Richmond he is almost a sure-bet to earn his 7th-consecutive top-10, where he has an average finish of 10.8.




Other Notables:

11. Jeff Gordon- He fell from 2nd to 19th in the final two laps and was involved in the final lap crash. However, Gordon should perform well at Richmond, where he finished 4th in both races last year, leading the most laps in each.

12. David Gilliland- I don't know what it is, but Gilliland has all of a sudden put together 4 top-15's in 5 races, and sits 18th in points! And he's already earned a top-10 at Richmond before.

13. Brian Vickers- He finished 5th at 'Dega, his first top-5 of the season. Vickers now sits 15th in points, could he be a surprise after 26 races?

14. Juan Pablo Montoya- Love 'em or hate 'em Montoya performed at 'Dega, riding Busch's rear bumper to a 2nd place finish. Montoya now claims the final spot of the Chase field, seemingly coming out of nowhere (his 2nd place finish at Talladega is his only top-10 of the year so far).

15. Mark Martin- The 49 year old Martin again takes the wheel of the Army car, and is almost certain to contend after his strong run at Phoenix.

Kyle Busch recovered from an early miscue during green flag pit stops when he missed his pitbox and fell a lap down and an incident with Jamie McMurray which almost claimed the two driver's cars to win at Talladega for the first time in his young career. As teammate Tony Stewart, who has finished 2nd at Talldega 6 times and won the Nationwide race, led the most laps, Busch was working his way up the running order before finally taking the lead on lap 184, holding off late charges from Jeff Gordon and Juan Pablo Montoya.

"I don't think I've ever finished one here yet without some sort of damage. We still had damage, but it wasn't enough to keep us from Victory Lane."

Busch was leading on the final lap when Michael McDowell spun at the end of the tri-oval, however no caution was thrown due to McDowell being behind the pack and out of harms way. However, just seconds after McDowell got his car pointed in the right direction, another incident occured in turn 2, this melee collected several cars, finally bringing out the yellow flag.

Meanwhile, behind Busch was Montoya, who had his best finish since the Brickyard 400 last August.

"I didn't want to finish second," Montoya said. "It's hard. I would think I would have tried to make a move coming out of four."

The chance would never come when Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jamie McMurray tangled in turn 2, sparking the race-ending wreck that claimed 11 cars. However, the strong run put Montoya into the top-12 in points, the final cut-off spot for the Chase.

The final wreck wasn't the only spectacular crash seen during the event. With 14 laps to go, Earnhardt Jr., Tony Stewart and Joe Nemechek all tangled, resulting in Bobby Labonte spinning in front of the field, involving 6 cars, including Stewart's totalled Toyota. Stewart spent the most time out front, only to leave with more disappointment from Talladega, but Stewart know's that just plate-racin'.

"That's what happens late in these races," Stewart said after climbing from his car. "If it was my fault, I'm sorry. But by looking at the video, I don't think I did anything wrong."

After it was all said and done, it was a common sight as Kyle Busch stood in victory lane, something he has done a total of 7 times this year in Nascar's top-3 series. 

           
After the week off and allowing Nationwide Series to enjoy the spotlight the Sprint Cup Series is back in action at the largest track on the schedule, the 2.66 mile Talladega Superspeedway. The likelihood of the big one taking out contenders, picking who will win is difficult, but I'm going to try.

 

1. Jeff Burton

 

Came from a low starting position and a mid-race spin to finish 6th, continuing his run of consistency. He looks as though he could be a driver to beat for the championship this year.






2. Carl Edwards

 

He recovered from a pit road penalty to finish 4th at Phoenix, showing he can perform on all the tracks, not just the 1.5 milers. Talladega isn't Edwards' best track, however, as he has an average finish of 21.7 and has only led 9 laps in his 7 career starts.






3. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

 

He was competing with Mark Martin for the win late at Phoenix before finishing 7th after pit stops, as he inches closer and closer to his long awaited first win of 2008. And there is no better place than Talladega, where he has 5 wins, thanks in large part to what he learned from his father, who won 10 races at the track.





4. Kyle Busch

 

Busch had another top-10 at Phoenix, then went on to win his third strait Nationwide Series race at Mexico. If that success is going to continue at Talladega, Busch is going to have to do something he seldom does at the Alabama track: finish. In six starts, he has run all 188 laps only once, back in 2006 when he finished 11th, his best finish at the track.





5. Greg Biffle

 

 

Biffle bounced back from poor runs at Texas and Martinsville to finish 9th at Phoenix. However, Talladega could spell more trouble for the Biff, where in ten starts he has never finished in the top-10.

6. Kevin Harvick

 

 

Harvick's finish at Phoenix was lower than he deserved, as Happy Harvick had run in the top-10 all night long before running out of gas in the final laps. Harvick should be back out front at Talladega, however, where he has an average finish of 13.3.

7. Tony Stewart

 

Stewart's finish was also lower than it should have been at Phoenix after stalling on pit road in the final laps. However, he should be a threat to win at Talladega, though he has never won in 14 cup starts. However he has finished 2nd not once, not twice, but 6 times. Doesn't hurt that he earned his first victory at the track in the Nationwide Series this weekend.






8. Denny Hamlin

 

Hamlin finished 3rd at Phoenix for his 4th strait finish of 6th or better. In four starts at Talladega he has only 1 top-10, but he runs out front often, especially last year when he led 88 laps in the two races run.

9. Jimmie Johnson

Johnson earned Hendrick Motorsports it's first victory of the 2008 season, and he could make it back-to-back at Talladega, where he finished 2nd in both races last year and won here in 2006.

10. Clint Bowyer

 

He continues to impress after finishing 2nd at Phoenix thanks to fuel strategy. However, his average finish at Talladega is outside the top 30.








Other Notables:

11. Jeff Gordon- managed a top-15 at Phoenix after his miserable at Texas, and he is a favorite for the Talladega race, with 6 career wins at the track including both races last year.

12. David Gilliland- All of a sudden, this young driver has three top-15's in the past four races, and Yates has always had a strong plate program, which could lead to more success for David.

13. Michael Walrtip- All four of his career Cup victories have come on plate tracks, Waltrip could have a strong run at 'Dega.

14. Martin Truex Jr.- Earned just his second top-10 of the season at Phoenix, but could get his third at Talladega has run up front, thanks to lessons learned from former teammate Dale Earnhardt Jr.

15. David Stremme- Will fill in for the injured Dario Franchitti at Talladega. Stremme had driven for Ganassi before being released in place for Franchitti, could be an opportunity to show that move was a mistake.

It wasn't too long ago that Sterling Marlin found himself contending for the series title. Now, Marlin is only competing part-time and struggling to make races. What happened?

Marlin was racing for Bobby Ginn last year and was securely in the top 35 in points when Ginn Racing was merged with Dale Earnhardt Inc. This left two Ginn drivers who were in the top-35, Marlin and Joe Nemechek, without jobs. Marlin was replaced by rookie Regan Smith after the merge, leaving him feeling robbed of a deserved ride.

"I can get up and look in the mirror and know I've done everything right. I don't think that's the case on the other side so I'll just leave it at that," he stated after he heard the news.

He only raced in two more events in 2007, racing in the final two events of the year finishing 25th and 33rd in the #09 car.

Marlin tried to qualify for this years Daytona 500 in the #09, but only finished 21st in the 1st Gatorade Duel, failing to qualify for the 500. It was the first time since 1982 that the two-time Daytona 500 winner wasn't in the field.

Since then Marlin hasn't tried to make a single event, with his next scheduled attempt to be the Aaron's 499 at Talladega, the second of only ten scheduled starts for Marlin.

The 1983 rookie of the year has enjoyed success in his career, from his first victory in the prestigious Daytona 500 to his win at Darlington, the track with the name "Too Tough to Tame." His career average finish is is under 19th, and he has logged over 200 top-10's. He may have claimed the 2002 Cup championship hadn't it been for a season-ending wreck at Kansas that left him out of the driver's seat for the remainder of the year.

Given the right opportunity, the 50 year old Marlin could prove he still has what it takes to win on Nascar's most elite series.

Jimmie Johnson gave Hendrick Motorsports a highly anticipated first victory of the 2008 season at the Phoenix International Raceway.

Johnson stayed on the track while most of the leaders, including Mark Martin, Carl Edwards and Denny Hamlin, came to pit road during the final laps for fuel to get to victory lane. However, Johnson didn't steal this victory thanks to pit road, rather he almost lost it.

On lap 200 Johnson lost positions on pit road that caused him to fall from 8th to 11th in the running order. However, in the final ten laps Johnson had Martin in his sights, and when Martin surrendered the lead for fuel, Johnson led the final nine laps and cruised to the win.

"I ran out of gas on the backstretch (during the victory lap)," Johnson said, grinning. But he still had enough left for a celebratory burnout after taking the checkered flag.

"We're back. We've been working very hard to get back. I couldn't be more proud of the folks back at Hendrick Motorsports."

Behind Johnson was Clint Bowyer, who also gambled on fuel mileage to finish second. Martin finished a somewhat disappointing 5th after having the car to beat in the final laps before being called to the pits.

"I'm just really, really proud of this team. We just about pulled that one off tonight," Martin said after climbing from his car. "I saved a lot of gas, probably more than they knew. You can't stop if somebody else stays out."

While pitting cost Martin the win, it cost Tony Stewart and Kevin Harvick more.

Stewart had run in the top-10 nearly all night, and was in position for a solid finish at the end when he came in for his final stop. However, the car stalled and Stewart fell to 21st. Kevin Harvick was running 2nd when he ran out of fuel and came to pit road. When his car stalled, Harvick lost valuable time and fell to 18th.

Matt Kenseth was making his 300th career start at Phoenix, but the milestone was marked with misery as Kenseth fell to 43rd early before smacking the wall and falling more than 40 laps off the pace. Kenseth slugged along for the remainder of the race before finishing 38th.

After duking it out in the Lone-Star state it's time for the best of Nascar to Duel in the Desert, here are this weeks rankings:

1. Jeff Burton

Another top-10 for Burton at Texas with a 6th place finish, the point leader's average finish at Phoenix is 11.4 in 17 starts with two wins, and his average finish this year is even better, at 7.1. His worst finish this year is 13th in the Daytona 500.





2. Carl Edwards

This is the man to beat at any 1.5 mile track we go to right now. He isn't too shabby at Phoenix either, with four top-10's in seven starts. Last year in the COT he finished 11th and a disappointing 42 that came due to an engine failure just 125 laps in the race. In the laps he had run, he led 87.

3. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

After promise displayed early in the race, Earnhardt Jr. and crew fell behind on their adjustments and settled for a disappointing 12th place finish. He's struggled lately at Phoenix, but his past success gives hope for his first win of the year, with two victories at the diamond in the desert.

4. Kevin Harvick

Harvick isn't far off Burton's pace as far as consistency, with an average finish of 8.3 on the year. And Phoenix is a place for Harvick to flex his muscles, as he's had top-10's the past four races, including two wins.

5. Kyle Busch

Busch ran up front all day at Texas before finishing 3rd. He should run well at Phoenix, with four top-10's in his six career starts, including a win back in 2005.







6. Tony Stewart

He had a quiet top-10 at Texas, and should be a front runner at Phoenix. In his 12 career starts, he has an average finish of 9.4, and a win back in 1999 when he made his first start at the track.







7. Denny Hamlin

Backed up his Martinsville win with a 5th at Texas. Now he heads to Phoenix looking for another victory. Last year in this race, he had arguably the car to beat, but a mistake on pit road cost him.







8. Jimmie Johnson

Texas looked more like the Johnson of old, but he still had nothing for Carl. He should be a car to beat at Phoenix, finishing 4th and 1st in the two races last year. He also has an average finish of 6.6 in 9 starts.






9. Clint Bowyer

He was a victim of a last lap wreck that cost him a top-5 finish at Texas, but he still had a solid top-10. Phoenix could be a struggle for Bowyer, as he only has one top-10 in 5 starts. There is hope, however, as Bowyer improves almost everywhere he goes, and his most recent finish at Phoenix was an 11th.





10. Matt Kenseth

Recovered from a horrible day in Martinsville to finish 9th at Texas. Expect more success at Phoenix, he has five top-5's in 11 starts and three in the last four races.









Other Notables:

11. Ryan Newman- His strong finish at Texas helped his chances of making the chase, but a 25 point penalty brought him back down to 10th in points. The Rocketman will have to do better than he has in the past at Phoenix if he wants to stay there.

12. Jeff Gordon- He finished 43rd for just the 2nd time in his career at Texas, dropping him out of the top-12. He'll have to rebound at Phoenix if he wants to make a run at the chase.

13. Jamie McMurray- Followed up Martinsville with a solid top-15, now he needs to keep this recent consistency going to finally prove himself.

14. Brian Vickers- Finished 16th at Texas, and so far this year has an average finish of 19th. At Phoenix he averages of 15.3, indicating he'll have another solid run.

15. David Gilliland- He earned another top-15 at Texas, and so far this year has three finishes of 17th or better.

Carl Edwards led 123 laps en-route to his 10th career victory and 2nd at Texas, and series-high 3rd of the year, and first since the penalty at Las Vegas that suspended Edwards' crew chief Bob Osborne for 6 races.

In victory lane, he insisted that his Vegas win came in no part due to the oil tank lid being off.

"The reason we won at Vegas is because of all the hard work that the guys at the shop and the engine department, it's not because of that oil tank lid," Edwards said. "That's what it's about. We're driving. It's fun. It's fun when you get out of the car and your hands hurt from gripping the steering wheel. That's good."

Edwards had to hold off Jimmie Johnson on a green-white checkered finish after Martin Truex Jr.'s engine failed with 7 laps to go. Edwards was able to pull away in the two quick laps to win easily. Rounding out the top-5 were Kyle Busch, who won the Nationwide Series race the day before, Ryan Newman and Martinsville winner Denny Hamlin.

While Edwards has three wins in seven races, Hendrick Motorsports as a whole still has none, and Texas was a struggling effort for the organization, aside from Johnson.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., who won the pole for the event, led early but fell off the lead lap and a disappointing 12th, while Casey Mears was two laps down in 22nd at the end of the day. However, Jeff Gordon had possibly the worst race of his 16 year career.

Gordon started the race 18th, but quickly fell out of the top-30 and fell a lap down. On lap 109 he was in danger of going a second lap down when he lost control of the car coming off turn 4 and spun into the outside wall.

"I can't remember the last time we struggled this bad. We're just going to see if we can get back out there and do some testing," Gordon said after the incident. "We've been way off, and we've got to find it because we can't go through the whole year like this."

Gordon ran a few more laps before finally calling it a day, finishing 43rd for just the second time in his career. The first came in 1999, at Texas.

Michael McDowell, a rookie driving for Michael Waltrip Racing, finished 33rd. However, the 23 year old McDowell may have been lucky to have just been alive, let alone racing on Sunday.

In qualifying on Friday, McDowell's car got loose heading into turn 1 on his second lap. As McDowell corrected it, the car snapped right and collided with the outside retaining wall head on.

The car then barrel-rolled down the speedway banking all the way to the exit of turn two where the car final came to halt. Just minutes later, McDowell emerged from the car under his own power, and waved to the crowd as he walked away from the wreckage.

"I feel great, nothing broke," McDowell said. "I didn't lose consciousness. I felt every roll down the hill."

     Alright, this has nothing to do with the whole Jeff Burton mad at Michael McDowell incident last week at Martinsville, I have a different complaint about lapped cars.

My complaint is that they still start to the inside of the leader on the restart. Why do they need to be there? We have the lucky-dog rule for lapped cars to catch up, they don't need to be up with the leaders messing up the race or even causing an accident. Back in the day that was good so you could make up a lap on a restart by getting by the leader and hoping for a quick caution, but with the free pass this isn't necessary.

Now, if you take those lapped cars out of the inside line and put them behind the lead lap cars... That opens a window of opportunity.

The All-Star Race has double-file restarts just like the starting grid (1st on the inside of row one, 2nd on the outside of row 1, etc.) providing for good racing throughout the entire race.

Well if you apply this to every race, maybe this could improve that issue that we've had with the middle of races being, well, boring. Normally a driver running, lets say, 4th would just start on the outside row with those lapped cars on the inside, lining him up virtually 8th, and by the time he's gotten around all the lapped cars he's several car lengths behind the leader. At that point, he's just going to ride and hope that the drivers in front of him have their car get away from them, but otherwise he's just going to ride and wait until later to make a move.

Now you take that same driver and use the same system you would in the All-Star race. Now that driver is actually lined up 4th, he can see the leader just outside his windsheild. He also sees the fourth place car just to his inside. Once the green flag drops, he's already trying to race for position, and he's all around cars doing the same, so he'll push harder to maintain and also to advance. Instead of finding himself far behind the leader once everything gets sorted out he maybe finds himself just a few tenths.

Now you have a better race through-and-through, and those lapped cars aren't changing the outcome, so long as they actually move out of the way when they around the leaders with 20 to go, but that's another story...

Here are the Nascar Sprint Cup Series Power Rankings for the upcoming race in Texas. One thing to keep in mind this weekend is how well the tires will do, as they were a handfull at Atlanta, Texas' sister track. Without further delay, here are the rankings:

1. Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Another race, another top-10 finish for Jr. at Martinsville, where he led the most laps and says he could have contended for the win if he had just been a little more patience. Jr. goes to Texas looking for his first win in 68 races, the same track where he earned his first career victory.

2. Jeff Burton

He is showing that he can contend for wins every week, as last week in Martinsville he was just a few tenths behind leader Denny Hamlin in the closing laps, but lapped traffic slowed his progress and allowed Jeff Gordon to get bye. However, Burton is one of the favorites at Texas, as he is the only driver with multiple victories at the track, including a victory in this race last year.

3. Carl Edwards

Surprising well at Martinsville with a 9th place finish, now he goes to Texas where can again contend for the win. At Atlanta earlier this year, it was his race to lose until he lost the motor. Expect him to run out front at Texas as well.

4. Kyle Busch

He didn't exactly shine at Martinsville, having rear-end gear trouble and finishing at the tail end of the pack and losing the point lead. However, Texas is a good place for Shrub to rebound, as he won at Atlanta earlier this year.

5. Greg Biffle

He was an also-ran at Martinsville, but Texas is a good place for the Biff to flex his muscles, as he's won here before.

6. Jeff Gordon

Comes out of Martinsville silencing critics, for the t